Mircha

Hi all,

I was hoping somebody would be able to advise me on a money transfer I will be looking to complete soon.

I have an savings account that I am looking to close with my bank in the UK and will be looking to transfer around £30K to my Canadian bank account.

Would it be possible to cash out the ISA I have and write a cheque from my UK bank (Halifax) and deposit in my Scotiabank account?

I presume there will be some charges from Scotiabank in this case.

If there are any other suggestions on how to move the monies over to Canada without too much loss would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Davita

One method I use is to register with TransferWise...a UK forex company owned partly by Richard Bransom.
Once registered you then transfer the GBP30K to TransferWise and they will deposit CDN$ into your Scotia Bank account at the rate and fee you accept at the time you wish to transfer/exchange.
It is all written step by step on their website.

Twitcher1958

We’ve used Transferwise a number of times - we usually check the bottomline and they work out the best.

glendem4

<snip>

If you use the link, your first transfer will be FREE for a transfer up to £500

It is very easy to set up as long as you have your UK and Canadian Bank details.

I would transfer a small amount on your first transaction to ensure you have everything configured correctly.

Transferwise costs are 0.45% + 80p for amounts over £3000

£30k will get you $54,768.78 at the current exchange rate $1.83389

Hurlabrick

What glendem4 said. Transferwise. Especially the bit about do a small trial transfer first, then once that is proven, transfer the balance. Takes about 2 working days to actually arrive in you Canadian account.

BristolUK

Is it? Good heavens. I might have to change to someone different for mine then.

Or just use the bits he doesn't own.

Allie73

We had a UK HSBC account and a Canadian HSBC account. We transferred between them. Because of the kind of acccount we had in Canada, we didn't pay fees.

Davita

That's correct Allie73.....the transfer is free but the exchange rate the bank uses is much less than TransferWise.... or many other forex.

The NET amount received is the criteria to work on for comparison.

Davita

I talked to Richard last week about your concerns...he said "who?'.... then poured me a glass of champagne.....

Souvy

Try talking to your banking officer at Scotia (my bank). I did transfer like that last month. I simply wrote a Barclays cheque to myself (£10k) and the officer paid it into my account. The transfer did take a while though.

I got the Scotia exchange rate, which was OK, and Barclays hit me for £30 in fees. Apart from that it was bloody easy.

A lot depends on how much clout you have with your bank.

glendem4

Cheques are so 20th century.

<snip>

£1000 gets you $1,809.64 with Transferwise. This includes the fee of £5.28 which is a lot cheaper than £30 with Barclays

FYI, Llloyds, RBS and Natwest will give you $1741 for the same £1000.

A no brainer !!!!

Mircha

Thanks for the recommendations for Transferwise. Will definitely go with the recommendation to transfer £500 and then move the larger amount.

BristolUK

He knew who I was when I used to go to that small Virgin record shop by Bristol Bus Station on Saturday mornings in the 70s.

Davita

You are so right....when those people get rich and famous they forget about us little people that bought the wares that made them rich and famous in the first place.
My wife, an avid facebook user, is pissed that Zuckerberg didn't send her a birthday wish...